Lexington Nursing Home Abuse & Neglect Lawyer
Across the nation today, including Kentucky, the elderly population is rapidly increasing. Along with this comes the building of a large number of nursing homes. This increase in nursing homes is combined with an increase in the instances of elder abuse and neglect. In brief, about one third, or 33 percent, out of 16,000 nursing homes in this nation were previously cited by federal or state regulators for elder protection laws. One in particular stands out. In Brownsville, Kentucky, three staff members of the Edmonson Center Nursing Home received more than 50 charges of first degree criminal abuse, second-degree wanton endangerment, fourth-degree assault and knowingly abusing or neglecting an adult patient! If you or a loved one is in a long-term care facility, such as a nursing home, it is important that you know and understand your rights for when abuse and/or neglect occurs.
Kentucky Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect
The National Quality Forum lists serious abusive and neglectful situations that should never happen in healthcare facilities, but do happen hundreds of times per year. These include:
- Death or serious injury associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices, or biologics provided by the nursing home
- Death or serious injury associated with intravascular air embolism that occurs while being cared for in a nursing home
- Discharge or release of a resident of any age, who is unable to make decisions, to someone other than an authorized person
- Death or serious disability associated with patient disappearance
- Suicide, attempted suicide, or self-harm resulting in serious disability, while being cared for in a nursing home
- Death or serious injury associated with a medication error, including errors involving the wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong patient, wrong time, wrong rate, wrong preparation, etc.
- Death or serious injury associated with a fall while being cared for in a nursing home
- Any incident in which a line designated for oxygen or other gas to be delivered to a resident contains no gas, the wrong gas, or is contaminated by toxic substances
- Death or serious injury associated with a burn incurred from any source
- Death or serious injury associated with the use of restraints or bedrails
- Abduction of a resident
- Sexual abuse/assault on a resident
- Death or significant injury of a resident resulting from a physical assault (i.e., battery) that occurs within or on the grounds of a nursing home
Federal Statutes and Regulations
In 1987, the federal government enacted the Nursing Home Reform Act. This Act is aimed at legislating the rights of nursing home residents. Said Act provides for the following rights:
- Privacy in care and confidentiality in their medical records;
- The right of respect in their treatment and care;
- The right to be aware of the services provided by the facility, to manage their finances; and
- The right to be informed of their care, treatment, medications and to select their own physician.
The Act specifically requires that all homes receiving Medicaid or Medicare reimbursements comply with these regulations. Furthermore, to receive federal funding, facilities must be regularly inspected and certified.
Kentucky Regulations and Statutes
From here, per Kentucky statute (KRS 216.520), nursing home residents are entitled to the following legally protected rights:
- The right to privacy, confidentiality and personal possessions;
- The right to participate in their own care;
- The right to be treated with dignity and respect;
- The right to be informed of their rights, rules and regulations of the facility;
- The right to receive or refuse visitors;
- The right to present grievances and file complaints without fearing reprisal;
This is not an exclusive list. These rights help guarantee that all long-term nursing home facilities in Kentucky are required to enhance the quality of life for the residents and to ensure their rights.
How Can A Lawyer Help Me With Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect?
The most important objective is to immediately stop the abuse or neglect. We will swiftly and effectively take measures to ensure that it ends. Beyond that, we help you acquire all the information and documentation necessary to build a strong case that compensates the victim and their loved ones for the physical and emotional injuries suffered and serves as a reason for the nursing home to ensure that sort of practice never occurs again. We help you determine the worth of your case so that you don’t accept a low ball offer from the defendant’s insurance company. We help you assess the settlement offer and determine whether or not your case should be litigated. If your case should be litigated, we manage all aspects of the litigation process and make sure that your case is presented in the best way possible.
We Can Guide You Through Your Kentucky Nursing Home Abuse Case
If you’re ready to talk to a Lexington Nursing Home Lawyer about your case, we encourage you to give us a call or submit a form on our contact page. Consultations are always free and we are always happy to assist you in any way as you move forward with your Abuse or Neglect case. Our expenses and fees are a reasonable percentage of the settlement or verdict that we obtain for you. If we don’t win your case, you don’t owe us a penny.